LouisaH

Although I’ve traveled in Europe several times, I’ve never rented a car. However, since I want to explore Tuscany, I’ve decided to just do it. (I live in the suburbs of Washington DC and drive the crazy beltway and have driven in NYC and Boston, so I figure I can do this. My plan is to pick up a car at the Villa Borghese location in Rome on my way out of town and drive to Tuscany, spending about three days there. We’ll then drive to the CT. My original plan was to return the car in La Spezia because I realize there is no need/not possible to drive in much of the CT, however, the Villa Steno in Monterossa does having parking. From there, we’ll go to Venice. Well, the train connections are not great, nothing direct and most require two changes and there are only a few that require just one change in Florence or Bologna. We won’t have a ton of luggage but it still seems like a hassle. According to Michelin, the drive is about 3 ½ hours. So, although I’d be paying for the car while in CT that I won’t use (just two days), it seems like it would be easier to keep the car and just drive to Venice and return it immediately when I get there. Please let me know what you think. Thanks, Louisa

Intrepid1

The Beltway is a piece of cake compared to <b>some</b> of the roads, and drivers in Italy but am sure you'll do fine.

However, I'd almost be inclined to take the train to Florence and rent the car there, do Tuscany and then go over to the CT..OR take the direct rail service Roma Ostiense to LaSpezia and do the CT first and then rent the car, do Tuscany, drop it off in Florence and train to Venice from there.

Am sure others will have differing opinions.

LouisaH

Thanks, Intrepid. I've already got my hotels booked, plus it seemed like a little less backtracking this way.

Huitres

I would not drive from the Cinque Terre to Venice, the train is the best option. True, there are stops (you can see the Tuscan countryside along the way) but is, IMO, hassle-free compared to renting a car, paying higher-than-US gas prices, circuitous routes and auto stradas that you are not familiar with, and car location returns, etc.

wanderful

From your message line, I thought you meant driving from Connecticut to Venice: “Yep,” I thought, pretty crazy.”

mamc

Basically, I'd take the train from Rome to Florence, pick up a car in Florence, drive through Tuscany and return the car in Pisa, take a train to Le Spezia and on to Monterossa, and back, and take the train from Pisa to Venice. Unless you really enjoy driving, the trains in Italy are much easier. The only place you really benefit from a car is the Tuscan countryside.

LouisaH

Thanks everyone; that's the kind of reality check I needed.
Wanderful, I'm crazy, but not that crazy!

Judy

LouisaH, we did pretty much what you are proposing a couple years ago. We picked up a car in Rome using AutoEurope at the Europcar Via Cipro location. We found it very easy to get to the Autostrada from there.
We stayed in Tuscany for a week, drove to Sestri Levante (slightly west of CT) and then drove to Venice to drop off the car. There were four of us and this was the least expensive option and very doable.

nytraveler

Makes perfect sense to me. Assumng you are a confident driver, driving in Italy is certainly no more difficult than in big cities/major suburbs in the US. And I have found by and large that the signage is better. Plus - with a car - you have the option of stopping in some cute town along the way.

(I believe that many of the people on this board who constantly reco against driving probably just don;t enjoy it at all - even at home. Nothing wrong with that - but that should understand that some people like/prefer to drive.)

dina4

I don't think you're crazy. We've driven around Italy a lot and have enjoyed it. There's a sense of freedom and adventure in your own car.
Have great trip!

LoveItaly

Louisa, when my late husband and I went to Italy we always had a rental car. He did wait until the second day of being in Italy to rent the car (wanted to relax the day we arrived and the following day..get over any jetlag etc). Now he loved to drive, in large cities, country roads etc so he might have not been the typical visitor to Italy. We never took a train. I never had been on a train in Italy until I started going to Italy on my own. IMO train service in Italy is basically so much better than we have here in the western part of the US.

Having said that if I had a option I would always opt for travelling around Italy by car. And a good portion of the time I still do thanks to all my Italian friends in Italy. It sounds to me from your original post you will enjoy having a car. Best wishes to you with your decision.

Carmen

We drove from Bellagio to Venice, which should have been about 3.5 hours. However, it was on Friday, July 1st, which we learned (too late) was a horrible day to be driving. It was the official beginning of the summer holiday season, Friday, etc... Long story short: it took us about 10 hours. It was miserable. We literally had to turn the motor off and just sit in the middle of the autostrada. So, while driving is generally easy, I'd just make sure you are aware of any unusual circumstances. If I had it to do over again, I would have taken the train.

weber6560

Done it! Enjoy. Relax and take your time.

KathrynT

I don't think driving out of Rome is really any more difficult than driving in Florence (we've done both and plan to do so again this summer.)

Yes, we've been caught in one bad traffic jam (near Pisa due to an accident.) However, we've also been in Italy during train strikes.

If you've driven in NY and Boston, you can handle Italy!

Julienas

I'm not realizing that CT didn't stand for Connecticut, in which case the driving question now makes sense to me.

starrsville

Great question. I'm enjoying the answers because I'd like to do the same - but everyone touts the train option. Good feedback. Again, thanks for asking!

LouisaH

Thanks everyone for all the great replies. It really does help to get the perspective of those who have done this. Carmen, we'll be travelling at the end of March, with the CT-Venice portion on a Thursday, so at least I shouldn't have to deal with the heavy traffic you experienced. Plus, I figure if I'm uncomfortable, I can always turn the car in at La Spezia and take the train to Venice.

Carmen

Hope it all goes well for you...I think our experience was probably out of the ordinary!

jagremere

LouisaH: We are very interested in what you end up doing for this, as we (a family of 3) have a virtually identical itinerary for late April!

We are picking up a Hertz rental car at Villa Borghese after our 5th day in Rome and driving to Montepulciano for 3 days in Tuscany. Then we intended to return the rental car in La Spezia for our 3 days at the Villa Steno in Monterosso, and then train from La Spezia to Venice for our final 3 days.

My initial research on cost was 250 Euro for the car option (including gas to keep the car for 4 days: 3 while in CT, one to drive to Venice) vs. 115 Euro total for three 2nd class train tickets for that route. So is the car option worth 135 Euro to save 2.5 hours (6 vs. 3.5) – probably not for us – so at the moment, we are opting for the train.

The cost of your car would be less, as you are only staying in CT for 2 days, as would your trains as you only need 2 tickets.

This is our first trip to Italy (and first ever to Europe for 2 of the 3 of us) and we are excited beyond belief! We started planning in early November last year and could not have done it without all the expert advice from all the very helpful Fodorites.

Please post your experience as soon as you can after your return.
We’d love a trip report as well, if you are up to it.
Have a wonderful trip with your daughter!

LouisaH

Well, I returned from my amazing Italian adventure and plan to post full details as soon as I finish digging out from the mountain of work that so rudely awaited me upon my return. I wanted to let people know that, as planned, I picked up a car at the Villa Borghese location in Rome, drove to Tuscany, then Monterosso in CT, and then on to Venice. I had good Touring Club Italiano maps and also printed out driving directions from Michelin and had a good navigator. The drive was harrowing in parts but, all in all, not too bad. Even with good directions, it was tricky getting out of Rome and we seemed to circle around awhile before finally getting on the A1. The autostrada was not bad at all, and actually easier than driving the Beltway around Washington DC and 95. Just stay in the right lane and it's fine. Signs are not as visible as they are in the US so that was a little tricky. The worst part was from Levanto to Monterosso as we climbed up the mountainous coastal road. I'm not particularly fond of heights and I just had to really concentrate to focus on the road and not look down at the gorgeous scenary. I took it slow and it was challenging but we made it. Much of the drive from Bologna to Venice is not very scenic and there were a lot of trucks and a fair amount of construction so the driving was not particularly pleasant. Driving into Venice to drop off the car at EuropCar was a little tricky as signs were not well marked for Pzle. Roma so ask for directions at the toll booth to confirm, but stay straight or slightly to the right, rather than go off to the left as I almost did. Of course, there's no place to park in front of EuropCar so I had to double park, leave my daughter with the car and run in. Would I do it again? Yes, but I sure breathed a big sigh of relief when I turned that car in without any incidents!